pawel nolbert's reconstructed realities perplex the senses with fictional filters

pawel nolbert’s reconstructed realities perplex the senses with fictional filters
all images courtesy of pawel nolbert

in thinking about reality, and its increasing distortion through social media filters and digital enhancement, new york-based designer pawel nolbert has created his own ‘perfect’ vision of the world around him. the series ‘constructed’ draws from themes of human memory, perception of truth, and the creation of subjective, doctored realities often shared through social platforms like instagram. ‘we construct our reality in our own way,’ nolbert describes. ‘we do that everyday on our instagram, blogs and other carefully-curated outlets. knowing that the world around us doesn’t look like this, we somehow want to believe that all those often extremely filtered and post-processed images in our ig-stream are actually the real thing.’

the designer has imagined his own ‘perfect’ vision of the world around him

for ‘constructed’, nolbert mixes travel photography with computer-based graphics, neon-hued backdrops and colorfully painted geometries. seamlessly integrated into the scenes, pastel pink skies meet surreal shapes in the landscape, blurring the line between what is real, and what has been digitally added. these vibrant fictional entities highlight the artist’s own strong recollection of color, and their presence in his memory despite them truly existing — or not. for nolbert, the creation of the series raised questions like: where does the ‘photo’ end and the ‘graphy’ begin? what tools make something a photograph, rather than a graphic? does it make sense to create that distinction anymore? 

‘constructed’ draws from themes of human memory and perception of truth

the project probes the doctored realities often shared through social platforms like instagram

nolbert mixes travel photography with computer-based graphics

neon-hued backdrops and colorfully painted geometries are integrated into the landscape 

the images blur the line between what is real and what has been digitally added

pastel pink skies meet surreal shapes in the landscape

vibrant fictional geometries highlight the artist’s own strong recollection of color

the series raises questions such as: where does the ‘photo’ end and the ‘graphy’ begin?